Flashback: Lake time

Sitting through a bad storm and flash flood warnings has me whole-heartedly wishing I could go on a vacation today. Missing fun in the sun and family time.

Where do you guys like to go on vacation the most when you're dreaming on a rainy day?

Party of 1

Tonight I did something that I have been talking about wanting to do for a while. Eat out alone. I'm not sure if going to Buffalo Wild Wings alone counts, but I got a table (didn't sit at the bar), and I enjoyed my meal 100% solo minus my interaction with the waitress.

She was actually the one who sat me when I came through the door and when she saw I was by myself, she asked me immediately if I was waiting for someone. I said no, and she asked if I wanted a booth or a table. I said table, just because I thought the booth thing might look even more awkward but I'm probably just making that up.

I sat and was ready with my food order when she came to ask me what I wanted to drink. I always get the same thing at BWW, so that made it easier and less "pressure-filled," I suppose. She took my order with a smile and left. She was extremely pleasant the entire time I was there, stopping by a few times to see if I needed anything and to ask if I was ready for my check. I don't know if I expected her to be a little more social because I was alone or? I'm not sure. Either way, I actually liked that she wasn't in my face the entire time.

I did hear some of the waitresses in a group as my server if I was really eating alone, and when she responded "yes" explode with comments like "wow, I could never do that," "aw," and "I'd be too scared." Little did they know....

Anyway, I made it through. It wasn't a traumatic experience, but I found myself texting people to keep myself occupied. I definitely would rather have company!

Video of the Week

In honor of buying tickets to their concert in August:

A Hard Word

Death is a hard word to say. A hard word to swallow. A hard word to truly understand the meaning of, or accept.

I also think death is an idea, topic, etc. that people tend to tip toe around. You don't understand unless you've been through someone close to you dying, and even at that point it's almost like you've been inducted into this group but still... nobody talks about it.

I can name a handful of people that I've known who have passed away. Way too young, way too soon, or before I was ready for them to go. Speaking of the latter, my grandmother passed away on July 7, 2007. I was in a friend of mine's basement when I got the phone call. I threw my phone and cried all night. I remember the feelings, I remember people's faces. I thought in time that it would change, that it wouldn't be so hard... but I still have her (old) phone number in my phone, and I cry when I'm doing serious wedding planning. But today, more than I want to mourn her death... I want to celebrate a GREAT word. Gramma.

I was blessed in this life with 2 amazing grandmothers, and I'm even more blessed to be gaining another great one through marriage. I have wonderful memories of painting, holidays, zoo trips, TV dinners, carebears, ice cream for breakfast, quilts, and more because of these amazing women. I can only hope that someday I am half of the woman that any of these women are. That I am as strong, resiliant, creative, funny, talented... and so many other adjectives... as they are/were.

So here's to Gramma's - the ones who love you unconditionally, and let you do all of the things your mom won't let you! :)

USA Garland

I tried my hand at a DIY garland for Patriotic holidays (Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, etc...). As you can imagine, this can be tedious, and sometimes things don't turn out exactly how we imagine... but I'll let you be the judge! It's a cute little garland that will serve its' purpose for these red, white, and blue holidays! Sooner or later, I may re-do this too.

I started by collecting paint chips from Walmart. They're free and useful! Other supplies I used were scissors, yarn, and a hole punch. I think next time I would use something a little stronger than yarn (potentially wire??).

 

I went through and elementary school style folded the pieces of the paint chips in half to make symmetrical stars. I went a little overboard and made a few too many, haha!

Then I simply hung it on the yarn, knotting it around the letters/stars so they couldn't slide around as easily.

Big changes in store:

With the start of this week, I'm not really sure how I'm feeling. It's my last week at Longview Farm Elementary. This job has been hard, but rewarding, and honestly... working here is what kept me moving with life when my whole world came shattering down around me in terms of my health. It's been a long road. Cutting my hair off was so hard, but one of the best decisions I've made. & honestly, it was because of the people who I work with, and the kids that I see every day that I felt okay when I did it.

Over this past school year, I've been able to work with such a great group of kids. While sometimes, they made me want to tear my hair out (that's natural, right?), I would hurt anybody else for saying that. They've grown so much in the past 9 months - physically, and emotionally. They've lost SO MANY TEETH, learned to write cursive, dominated in sports, done great in music... and it's just so heart breaking to think that I may never see them again once I walk out of here on Thursday afternoon.

 

With that said, I'm incredibly excited for my future. It's finally time to take the steps to start my career, and for me... that's the best thing in the world. I get to have my own kids, in my own classroom. I'm nervous, I admit. I'm moving to a town where I don't know anybody, to live with strangers, to teach a grade level I've never taught before. But it's going to be so great! Plus, I have the whole summer to spend with everybody here in KC. Wedding planning, birthdays, concerts, trips... It's gonna be a good one. I'm ready.

Goin' to the Chapel...

As you may have seen in my DIY gift post, one of my dearest, close friends tied the knot yesterday! I was so blessed to have been a part of this special day, and I couldn't imagine a better match for my friend than her new HUSBAND.

Clearly, a number of snapshots were taken... here are a few of my Gerry Wedding festivities favorites!!

Rehearsal

Getting Ready

Reception

 

It's crazy to think that Jessica is a MRS. now... but then again, I will be soon too. I'm elated for them. Love you, Jess. My roomie, my friend... I wish you the best and more!!

DIY WEDDING GIFT

One thing that I've struggled with when my close friends have tied the knot is finding the right gift. Do you go with something sentimental, that relates to your friendship? Do you do something creative? Do you go off the registry and buy them those 10 packs of toilet paper they asked for?? It's always a big decision!

My good friend Jessica just got married yesterday, and for her gift, I went with creative AND sentimental. Here is a picture of her wedding centerpieces that I drew inspiration from:

Based on this idea, I wanted to make them something unique that they could put in their house to remind them of their special day. So here's how I started...

I bought a wooden pallet, some burlap from the fabric section, loose sunflowers from the floral section, some sponge brushes and cheap paint from Hobby Lobby, and my mom had strings of fake pearls.

Because I'm a planner I went through and set everything in a few different locations that I liked, and once I decided on their final locations, I hot glued them in place. I used plain old black sharpie to write "And they lived Happily Ever After..." and their wedding date, but of course it could say anything you wanted it to.

Honestly, the step that took the longest was painting the "G" (for Gerry - their last initial), just because I had to do a few coats to get the shade of yellow that I wanted!

 

So this is how it came out!!! The blank paper is meant to be where they put one of their wedding photos!

What do you guys think? A simple, VERY AFFORDABLE (less that $25!!) wedding gift!

Let's Catch up....

So, the past couple weeks have been insanely busy, and honestly, it's not going to slow down anytime soon! I've been busy wrapping up school, celebrating major events in friends' lives, and I had a sick spell in there... Here are some photos and updates!

Ben's final Orchestra concert of the year at the Kauffman Center

David's bachelor party - at Dave & Buster's

 Mother's Day dinner prepared by Ben

B & I celebrating our 1 year anniversary of being engaged

Derby Day fundraiser at LFE

Our cousin RJ's high school graduation on 05/14/13